Today, Friday, actress Stephanie Saliba was arrested pending investigation after being questioned in a money laundering and illicit enrichment case involving Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.
And the Lebanese National News Agency reported: “The Financial Advocate General, Judge Iman Abdullah, removed actress Stephanie Saliba from office based on the direction of the Financial Prosecutor, Judge Ali Ibrahim, after hearing her.”
Contact the Financial Crimes Enforcement Authority
“Saliba has been referred to the Financial Crimes Authority to expand the investigation and he will later decide to keep her or keep her under arrest,” a judicial source, who declined to name him, was quoted by AFP as saying.
Saliba’s interrogation is part of an investigation that Mount Lebanon’s prosecutor’s office, Judge Gada Aoun, has been conducting since April after accusing Salameh and his brother of the crime of “illicit enrichment and money laundering.”
Extravagant gifts
And local media say that Saliba receives exorbitant gifts from the governor of the Central Bank.
Another judicial source familiar with Salama’s case said: “The investigation did not show that he transferred money to Saliba, which means that the money laundering hypothesis is incorrect,” given that “the gifts she received, whether they were a house or jewelery does not mean that they are money laundering operations.”
Security forces have implemented the content of the search warrant and investigation against Saliba, who arrived at Beirut airport on Wednesday evening from abroad.
No comment
In response to a question from France Presse, her office declined to comment, explaining: “We have no comment at this time.”
Saliba, 35, began her acting career in 2016 and quickly rose to prominence in the Arab world after starring in several series, most notably Metal Al Qamar and Minute of Silence, the latest of which is Challenge. “.
Ukrainian is close to Salama
Saliba’s arrest comes less than two weeks after Paris charged a Ukrainian woman close to Salama with “creating a criminal organization”, “organized money laundering” and “laundering serious tax fraud”, according to a French judicial source.
The charges were brought against her as part of an investigation into the state of Salama’s property in France, which, according to the same source, is suspected of having been obtained through fraud.
Notably, Salameh faces many complaints against him in many countries, but despite the subpoena and travel ban issued against him in Lebanon, he is still in the position he has held since 1993, making him one of the the longest-serving central bankers. in the world.
